mHealth and Human-Centered Design Towards Enhanced Health, Care, and Well-being

The book examines the current state of mHealth and Human-Centered Design (HCD) initiatives toward health, care, and well-being. The present surge in interest in improving people's quality of life is creating new prospects for the development of innovative design solutions aimed at enhancing living conditions. The combination of emerging user needs and opportunities provided by recent innovative mHealth technologies enables research institutions, stakeholders, and academia to design new solutions to promote well-being, health, and care, thereby improving the quality of life of people of all ages. The book analyzes and discusses the most innovative services, products, and systems in the healthcare field. This strategy is in line with the concept of ambient assisted living or enhanced living environment, which focuses on the comfort and health of specific categories of users.

This book covers several topics highlighting the importance of involving end-users in the design of innovative solutions in digital health care, and design considerations of mobile healthcare applications.

Furthermore, the covered topics are described in their current applications in relevant fields focusing on the design of smart solutions, such as biomonitoring systems, activity recognition tools, smart living environments, physical autonomy, and virtual assistance.

This editorial project is addressed to academics, designers, engineers, and practitioners in health care who want to promote cooperation between academia, stakeholders, and research institutions.

Sofia Scataglini is a Biomedical Engineer and Visiting Professor at Antwerp University in the Faculty of Medicine and Health Sciences, Department of Rehabilitation Sciences and Physiotherapy, Antwerp, Belgium. Prof. Sofia Scataglini is recognized with the title of European Ergonomist (Eur. Erg.), CREE. In doing so, she is a member of the Scientific Committee of the International Ergonomics Association (IEA) and Chair of the IEA Technical Committee on Digital Human Modeling and Simulation. Sofia is the founder of the Digital Human Modeling by Women group (DHMW), which is dedicated to promoting women in STEAM around the world. Sofia organizes congresses related to applied human factors, ergonomics, wearables, and digital human modeling (DHM). She is involved in different TC groups for standardization, such as at the national (NBN), European (CENELEC), and international levels (ISO and IEC) for ergonomics, biomechanics, wearables, smart textiles, PPE, and clothing. She is also an active editor, writer, and reviewer of books and journals and scientific grants focusing on sensors, medicine, health and care, modeling and simulation, standardization, ergonomics, biomechanics, and design. Her research activities focus on the research and design of products, systems, environments, and services for the health, care, and well-being of people using co-design and user-centered design methods combined with ergonomics.

Silvia Imbesi is Architect and Industrial Designer. Currently, she works as Research Fellow in Inclusive Design at the Department of Architecture of the University of Ferrara, Italy. She is an expert in user-centered methodologies for the design of products, services, and systems. She uses to develop design projects for niche users belonging to fragile categories, particularly in healthcare devices related to the Internet of Things. Since 2009, Silvia Imbesi has worked as Freelance Architect and Designer, collaborating with other professionals, companies, industries, and institutions for the development of projects and design research. Starting in 2012, she collaborated with the University of Ferrara as Contract Professor and participated in several kinds of research related to user-centered methodologies and inclusive devices related to the Internet of Things, innovative teaching methods, etc. Silvia Imbesi authored many international publications about Human-Centered Design, inclusive design, the Internet of Things, wearable devices, human factors, mHealth systems, data visualization, etc.

Gonçalo Marques holds a Ph.D. in Computer Science Engineering and is Senior member of the Portuguese Engineering Association (Ordem dos Engenheiros). He is currently working as Assistant Professor lecturing courses on programming, multimedia, and database systems. Furthermore, he worked as a Software Engineer in the Innovation and Development unit of Groupe PSA automotive industry from 2016 to 2017 and in the IBM group from 2018 to 2019. His current research interests include the Internet of Things, Enhanced Living Environments, machine learning, e-health, telemedicine, medical and healthcare systems, indoor air quality monitoring and assessment, and wireless sensor networks. He has more than 80 publications in international journals and conferences, is a frequent reviewer of journals and international conferences and is also involved in several edited books projects.